Behind the Headlines

"Sufferers of psychotic illnesses 'may have treatable immune disorder'," The Independent reports. Researchers from Oxford University found around 9% of people presenting with psychotic symptoms also had signs of immune dysfunction…

"Children are more likely to use cannabis if their mother smoked while pregnant," the Mail Online reports. New research suggests smoking in pregnancy could affect the genes of the child, increasing their risk of substance abuse in later life…

"'Doing at least half an hour of exercise three times a week may boost men's sperm count'," BBC News reports. Researchers recruited 261 healthy married men who were randomly allocated to three different training programmes…

"Women and men who regularly trim or remove all their pubic hair run a greater risk of sexually transmitted infections," BBC News reports. A survey of around 7,500 Americans, aged between 18 and 65 years, found…

"People consuming at least 20 grams of nuts daily less likely to develop potentially fatal conditions such as heart disease and cancer," The Independent reports. That was the main finding of a review looking at 20 previous studies on the benefits of nuts…

"Parkinson's disease 'may start in gut'," BBC News reports. New research involving mice suggests that bacteria in the gut may lead to a greater decline in motor function in patients with Parkinson's disease. The study involved a mouse model...

"Aspirin a day could dramatically cut cancer and heart disease risk … study claims," the Mail Online reports. U.S. researchers ran a simulation of what might happen if all Americans over 50 years old took aspirin on a daily basis…

"Women who suffer a miscarriage should try for a baby again within six months, a major study has found," the Daily Mail reports. Current guidance from the World Health Organization recommends couples wait at least six months…

"If you want to stave off death for as long as possible, you might want to reach for a tennis racquet," The Guardian reports. A study looking at the impact of individual sports on mortality found racquet sports reduced the risk of death by around 47%...